AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Twitch sees record numbers as Xbox One usage grows

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 01 Apr 2014 12:58

Twitch sees record numbers as Xbox One usage grows Microsoft has announced today that Twitch is now seeing record numbers following a boost in Xbox One usage of the services.

The app added broadcasting for Xbox on March 10th, and the company says there have been over 23 million minutes broadcast from Twitch on Xbox One since this launch.

Says the software giant: "This includes more than 2.7 million minutes broadcast from Xbox One March 10-11, the most ever for a Twitch console app in its first day. Additionally, 30 percent of all Twitch unique broadcasters were broadcasting from Xbox One during the app's first day.

In its first week, 108,000 unique Twitch users tried their hand at broadcasting from Xbox One, accounting for 22 percent of Twitch's unique broadcasters in the same period of time. To put that in perspective, according to Twitch, it took another console a month to achieve what the Twitch app on Xbox One did within its first week. New broadcasters are really getting into it, too, as the average Twitch broadcast on Xbox One is nearly as long as the average American TV sitcom at 28 minutes."

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AfterDawn: News

OkCupid takes strong stance against Mozilla and its new CEO

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 8:52

OkCupid takes strong stance against Mozilla and its new CEO The online dating site OkCupid has taken a strong stance against Mozilla Firefox, protesting the browser due to new Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich's stance against gay marriage.

Eich supported California's Proposition 8 (which banned gay marriage) and even donated to the politicians backing the bill.

OkCupid says it will not stand for intolerance, and that eight percent of the relationships formed via the site would be illegal if bills like Prop 8 were passed everywhere. "OkCupid is for creating love," says the company. "Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure."

Here is the full post from OkCupid:



Hello there, Mozilla Firefox user. Pardon this interruption of your OkCupid experience. Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.

Politics is normally not the business of a website, and we all know there's a lot more wrong with the world than misguided CEOs. So you might wonder why we're asserting ourselves today. This is why: we've devoted the last ten years to bringing people--all people--together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we've worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it's professionally important to the entire company. OkCupid is for creating love. Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure.

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AfterDawn: News

Some older HTC devices to get Sense 6.0 by the summer

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 8:08

Some older HTC devices to get Sense 6.0 by the summer A leaked HTC document has revealed which smartphones will be getting which Android and Sense UI updates.

The new HTC One M8 is the first with the new Sense 6.0 user interface (video below) but it will not be the only in the line to receive the update.

According to the table, 2013's HTC One, One Dual Sim, One Max, One Mini and Butterfly S will all receive Sense 6.0 to go along with their Android 4.4.2. The time frames are between June and July. All those devices have Android 4.4 and Sense 5.5 currently.

If you have a two year old phone, you are out of luck. Your phone will not be getting Android 4.4 or Sense 6.0. Many will not even get Sense 5.5.

Keep in mind this has not been confirmed by HTC, but if accurate should provide a thorough map for your device.

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AfterDawn: News

An iPhone 6 photo rumored to be from Foxconn and 3D renders emerge

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 7:00

An iPhone 6 photo rumored to be from Foxconn and 3D renders emerge A Weibo user has posted a photo alleging to be the iPhone 6, directly from manufacturer Foxconn.

The caption of the photo said "These are the pictures of the real iPhone 6 which were taken at Foxconn."

Although there is always the chance that the photos are faked, the images do appear to fit within expectations for the new flagship device.

Using the schematics, Nowhereelse put together 3D renders of the device, which is rounder, thinner and larger. The schematics point to two new devices, one at 4.7 inches and one at 5.7 inches, well in the phablet range and huge compared to current model iPhones.

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AfterDawn: News

Moto G is a huge hit in the UK

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 6:36

Moto G is a huge hit in the UK Motorola's Moto G has been a big hit in the UK, turning around Moto UK's fortunes in the process.

The company had close to zero market share in the region headed into 2014, but that share has now jumped to a full 6 percent thanks mainly to the cheap Android device.

Sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows the share for the three month period ended February 2014. Motorola put the G on sale last November for $179. We reviewed the phone and found it to give incredible bang for the buck, including a vibrant screen, fast internals a near-stock Android experience.

Notes Kantar's Dominic Sunnebo: "Motorola was nowhere in Europe before the Moto G launched in November last year, but the new model has since boosted the manufacturer to 6% of British sales. It highlights the speed at which a quality budget phone can disrupt a market."

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AfterDawn: News

Oppo Find 7a goes up for pre-order on April 7th

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 5:49

Oppo Find 7a goes up for pre-order on April 7th Oppo has announced that the international Find 7a (non-premium) will go up for pre-order on April 7th.

Oppo's Find 7 will actually come in two models, the Find 7a and the premium Find 7, which a premium version.

The Find 7a has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 2800mAh battery. The premium model has a 5.5-inch quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) display, 3GB RAM, a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801, 32GB internal storage and a larger 3000mAh. Both have Gorilla Glass 3, a microSD slot (expandable up to 128GB), LTE, MaxxAudio plus Dirac HD audio enhancement and VOOC rapid charging promising "zero to 75 percent" in just 30 minutes.

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AfterDawn: News

Another long-time Windows, Office executive is leaving the company

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 5:37

Another long-time Windows, Office executive is leaving the company Another longtime Windows and Office executive is leaving Microsoft.

Antoine Leblond is leaving after over 24 years and just months after his position was reorganized. The executive is leaving today, which is his 9,000th day on the job.

Reads Leblond's email: "After almost 25 years, I've decided it's time for me to go out and see what the non-Microsoft world has to offer.

"Every single day I have had here has been amazing in its own way, and I will never look back on all of these years with anything but fondness, pride in what we've accomplished together, and a real appreciation for having been lucky enough to be part of so many awesome things. I am sad to leave all of you, but also incredibly excited for what comes next."


The exec spent his first 20 years working for Office, before moving to Windows and helping to develop the cloud services and store for Windows 8.




AfterDawn: News

Man who had pirated 'DVD factory' in his home gets suspended jail sentence

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 5:24

Man who had pirated 'DVD factory' in his home gets suspended jail sentence Kevin Morris of Chorley, West England, has plead guilty and received a 12 week jail sentence suspended for 18 months for 13 charges of copyright infringement and other trademark crimes.

Additionally, the pirate will have to serve 100 hours of community service.

Morris manufactured pirated films from Universal, Paramount and Disney and even included artwork that was either custom or made to match the original.

On Facebook, Morris boasted about sales and also offered to sell up to 10 films for £15. Last June, officers made the purchase and then raided his home, seizing computers, discs and other equipment. By August, Morris was back to selling online on Facebook, even after having the equipment taken.

Lancashire Trading Standards prosecutor Nick McNamara added: "Recently Trading Standards officers have seen a trend of counterfeiters turning to Facebook to advertise and sell their wares. To criminals, Facebook offers a number of advantages over more traditional means because unlike market stalls and e-Bay there's little official scrutiny given.

"It's down in no small part to the fact criminals are able to control who has access to their pages in such a way they can only be viewed by 'friends'. Closed communities often exist for the sole purpose of trading in counterfeit products."

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AfterDawn: News

Google: News outlets under attack by hackers

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 4:34

Google: News outlets under attack by hackers According to Google security engineers, the world's top news organizations have been and are under current attack from state-sponsored hacking attacks.

At least 21 of the world's 25 largest international news organizations have been targeted.

Shane Huntley, a security software engineer at Google, says "journalists were massively over-represented" among targets of attacks, and that the hackers were working for or in a support of a government. Huntley and co-author Morgan Marquis-Boire presented the paper at a Black Hat conference.

"If you're a journalist or a journalistic organization we will see state-sponsored targeting and we see it happening regardless of region, we see it from all over the world both from where the targets are and where the targets are from," Huntley added. It is unclear how Google monitors the attacks but Huntley says the search giant "tracks the state actors that attack our users."

The news is none too surprising, given that Forbes, the Financial Times and New York Times have all admitted to being successfully attacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, a group of hackers. The Google researchers claim that one major news outlet was recently attacked by Chinese hackers via a fake questionnaire emailed to staff.




AfterDawn: News

Roku's HDMI Streaming Stick now available through major retailers

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 3:46

Roku's HDMI Streaming Stick now available through major retailers Roku has begun shipping the update to their Streaming Stick (2012), one that will directly compete with Google's Chromecast HDMI dongle.

The original model sold for $99 but the second-generation model will sell for $49.99. The Chromecast sells for $35 with a limited lineup of applications that is rapidly expanding. Just like the Chromecast, the Streaming Stick must be plugged into the TV's USB port for power aside from being placed in the HDMI port.

As part of the second-generation update, the Streaming Stick now supports 1080p and will come with an included remote familiar to Roku set-top owners. The remote has quick action buttons for Netflix, Amazon, and strangely, Blockbuster and M-Go.

Roku has a large lineup of channels, including all of the most popular streaming applications and almost 1,200 more. You can "cast" YouTube and Netflix, just like the Chromecast, and control the device from iOS and Android phones and tablets.

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AfterDawn: News

BBM now at 85 million monthly active users

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 3:17

BBM now at 85 million monthly active users BlackBerry's most popular product, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has reached a new milestone this week, reaching 85 million monthly active users.

The messaging service was recently made available to Android and iOS, increasing the potential userbase by a massive amount. The now cross-platform client appears to be sticky, seeing decent growth in its monthly active users (MAUs) and a strong growth in its registered users.

As of this week, BBM now has 85 million monthly users and 113 million registered users. "We have a very solid BBM monetisation plan," says CEO John Chen. "We're seeing a solid uptick in multi platform users, driving growth in total registration. Like last quarter, growing the BBM user base is a top priority and we have a number of initiatives driving this."

In addition, BBM is headed to Windows Phone by the end of the fiscal Q2, and it is already pre-loaded on the Nokia X and some other Lumia devices.

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AfterDawn: News

Evleaks shows off Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 press images

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 2:59

Evleaks shows off Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 press images After the potent leaker @Evleaks showed off the renders of the Tab 4 7.0 last week, he has posted the Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 press images, as well.

The devices look very similar to previous models, and the Tab line is mid-range when compared to the TapPRO and NotePRO models which were just recently released.

Samsung's Tab 4 will have a 10.1-inch display with an expected 1280x800 resolution, a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and dial 1.2/3MP cameras. The device will also launch with Android 4.4 KitKat and Samsung's own suite of apps.

The images have April 24th prominently, which could imply the release date. With low-to-mid-range specs, the device is expected to sell for $300 or less.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple boosting output at Arizona sapphire plant with new expansion

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Mar 2014 2:37

Apple boosting output at Arizona sapphire plant with new expansion Even though construction on the Apple and GT Advanced sapphire manufacturing plant in Arizona is not yet complete, it appears the companies are already planning an expansion.

"Project Cascade," which encompasses the plant and its surrounding 83 acres of land, has a large main structure and parking lots, support structures and other equipment. The current talks would be for an extension into the area behind Cascade.

The adjacent land is vacant and could replicate the size of the current facility, read reports.

Apple/GT's current facility is not yet completed by still outputs product, remaining powered by an array of temporary generators, a mini substation and large chiller units. Construction is slated to finish in June.

The facility builds sapphire boules in bulk, and is used as an alternative to Gorilla Glass, a protective (unscratchable) tech for glass. Sapphire is thinner and lighter than the potassium-enhanced Gorilla Glass, but has been much more expensive in the past. So far, Apple has used the sapphire as a cover for its iPhone cameras and as a cover for the new Touch ID sensor.




AfterDawn: News

BlackBerrry wins preliminary injunction against Typo case for iPhones

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Mar 2014 4:13

BlackBerrry wins preliminary injunction against Typo case for iPhones BlackBerry has won an injunction against Typo Products LLC, the makers of the Typo Keyboard cases for iPhones.

The $99 case, which does have a striking resemblance to legacy BlackBerry devices, snaps on to iPhones allowing for easier typing than the native virtual keyboard.

Ryan Seacrest, the producer and TV personality, founded the company and is its largest investor. District Judge William Orrick said BlackBerry "had established a likelihood" that it could prove Typo infringed its patents. Typo could not, at least initially, prove otherwise.

With the preliminary injunction, Typo is now prohibited from selling the keyboard. "BlackBerry is pleased that its motion for a preliminary injunction against Typo Products LLC was granted. This ruling will help prevent further injury to BlackBerry from Typo's blatant theft of our patented keyboard technology," a spokesperson added (via Reuters).

"Typo will continue to make and sell innovative products that busy people can't live without," said Typo, who promised to appeal the decision.




AfterDawn: News

Maker Studios signs content licensing deal with cable TV network

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Mar 2014 3:42

Maker Studios signs content licensing deal with cable TV network Maker Studios, the top content creator on YouTube recently acquired by Disney for $500 million, will now be on TV, following a content-licensing deal with music video service Music Choice.

The company will provide over 500 hours of clips and content. For April, Music Choice will feature Maker Studio talent partner Bart Baker's music-parody videos for the entire month. Baker has over 568 million views to his videos so far in 2014 on YouTube.

Music Choice VP of programming Damon Williams says he approached the content maker well before Disney ever came calling. "I went after them before I knew anything about Disney," he said. "I felt the content they were creating would really resonate -- and saw an opportunity to bring their content to the TV platform."

Besides its own talent, Maker Studios has deals to develop channels with Will.i.am, Snoop Lion and other musical acts. Such programming would definitely fit in Music Choice's catalog.

"This is a valuable partnership for Maker, as Music Choice's multiple properties are a perfect fit to for our artists and music programming," said Jenna Seiden, VP distribution and strategic partnerships at Maker Studios. "We're thrilled that Music Choice viewers will now be able to experience stars like the incredible Bart Baker and we look forward to sharing more great music content in the coming year."

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